This invention relates in general to dispensing valves for pressurized containers and more particularly to a manual actuator for use with a vertically movable valve assembly and dispensing nozzle.
Tilt action valves for pressurized containers are used to dispense a variety of products such as shaving cream, cheese products and whipped cream. Valve assemblies for such containers are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,813; U.S. Pat. No. 2,965,270; U.S. Pat. No. 2,957,610; U.S. Pat. No. 2,914,224 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,808,806.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,301, issued on Jul. 28, 1998, describes a tilt action valve assembly. A portion of the grommet seal has a thin wall to provide a weakened area which bows to accommodate stem movement and avoid displacement of the lower portion of the grommet seal. The result is a valve stem which not only tilts but can also move downward in the can along the axis of the stem. This improves sealing and also enhances communication between the contents of the can and the flow orifices at the base of the stem.
This enhanced communication between the interior of the can, where the material to be dispensed is held, and the flow orifices for the stem is particularly important where viscous products such as caulk and urethane sealant are to be dispensed.
It is desirable that a dispensing valve and discharge nozzle be movable in an axial direction rather than tilted in order to increase this communication and facilitate dispensing of the material involved.
In addition, an axially movable valve can be more readily sealed to assure against leakage of the contents of the can.
It is important, for most practical applications, such as consumer usage in dispensing caulk, that the valve be readily movable by hand. One of the reasons that tilt valves are so frequently used is because it is easy for the user to force the valve over into a tilted position through movement with a single hand.
Accordingly, it is a major purpose of this invention to provide a manually actuated vertically movable dispensing valve arrangement in which the user through the application of actuating pressure by the user""s hands can dispense material in the pressurized can.
It is a closely related purpose of this invention to provide such hand actuation with an actuator device that can readily be moved through force applied by a single hand of the user.
It is a further purpose of this invention to provide an axially actuated single hand dispensing valve arrangement in which the cost of the improved feature is relatively small so that it an be used or incorporated without substantially increasing the cost of the dispensing container. This last feature is important in order for the cost of the improvement to be comparable to the valve of the increased facility in dispensing materials involved.
It is a particular purpose of this invention to provide this enhanced actuating feature for an axially movable valve in the context of dispensing materials that are relatively thick and viscous such as caulk and urethane sealant.
The hand operated dispensing device includes a platform which is mounted onto the cap of a typical pressurized container for dispensing such items as urethane seal or caulk. A front part of the platform has openings into which a lever is pivotally mounted. The lever extends up from the platform and back with an upper portion having an opening to accommodate the nozzle. The lever thus extends around the nozzle into a handle that extends down along the side of the pressurized container. The nozzle has a shoulder against which the upper portion of the lever normally rests. When the nozzle is screwed up into the dispensing state, the handle of the lever rotates up into position where it extends at an angle away from the sidewall of the pressurized can. The user squeezes the handle with one hand thereby causing the upper portion of the pivotally mounted lever to bear down on the shoulder of the nozzle pushing the nozzle axially downward thereby pushing the valve, to which the nozzle is mounted, axially down and thus causing the valve openings to be exposed to the material in the can. Accordingly, the material in the can is dispensed through the valve and nozzle.
The platform of this actuating device has a rigid forwarding engaging lip which engages approximately 120xc2x0 of the valve cap. A small flexible rearward engaging lip also engages the valve cap. This permits ready assembly of the platform and thus the lever on a pressurized container. It also permits removing this actuating device for use on multiple cans.